Weird that Hitler salutes don’t raise your popularity.
Markets matter. Consumers have choices.
The question is not what Elon Musk will do with his power, but what are we going to do with our power?
While Elon Musk has been generating headline after headline for his efforts to reshape the US federal workforce, the stock of his electric-car company is on track for its worst weekly performance since the US presidential election.
Tesla Inc. shares have sunk 7.5% this week through Thursday’s close, weighed down by shockingly bad sales reports from around the world. In Germany, sales plunged last month to the lowest since 2021, and they tumbled in France and the UK as well. The news from China, one of Tesla’s biggest markets, is also bleak. Deliveries fell 11.5% year over year — while the shares of Chinese competitor BYD Co. notched their best week since 2020 as investors cheered an update to its smart-driving technology.
The battering has left Tesla’s stock down 22% from its Dec. 17 record closing high. It reached that peak after nearly doubling in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory, as Musk established himself as the president’s right-hand man. That honeymoon has given way to the day-to-day reality of running an electric-vehicle maker at a time when the new administration’s policy is turning away from the industry and as Musk has become an increasingly polarizing figure.
The European sales weakness may signal that Musk’s political leanings are impacting Tesla’s performance. In recent months, he embraced a far-right party in Germany and picked a fight with the UK Prime Minister ahead of results showing that sales fell in Europe’s three largest markets. In early February, Trump boosted tariff threats on the European Union while engaging in brinkmanship over levies against Canada and Mexico.
“There is an argument to be made that Tesla is beginning to be penalized for Musk’s close relationship to Trump,” Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jonestrading, wrote in a note.
Tesla Inc. was the biggest loser among electric-vehicle makers last month in Germany, where consumers snubbed Elon Musk’s brand and bought more Volkswagen, Seat and BMW cars.
VW gained the most, selling 6,521 more EVs than a year ago, according to more detailed data Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority released on Friday. Volkswagen AG’s Seat brand saw the second-biggest increase, with 2,520 more cars registered.
Tesla sold 1,875 fewer vehicles in a month when total EV sales soared 54%, according to the authority known as KBA. Its share of the European Union’s biggest EV market fell to 4% from 14% a year ago, trailing brands including Skoda, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
Musk will need to convert his cars to run on coal. That’s his new demographic.
Old Man Trump will be conflicted: Avoiding Elon’s new “loser stink” while still in thrall to Elon’s money.